C．pull back D．get back

答案　B　[句意：你不必一次性还钱，你可以贷款20年再慢慢偿还。考查短语的含义。take back意为"取回，使回忆起，取消"，pay back"偿还，报答，报复"，get back"找回，恢复"，pull back"把......向后拉，撤退"等，根据句意选择B项。]

15．Most Americans would find it hard to imagine ________without a car.

A．what could life be like B．what life could be like

C．life could be like what D．could life be like what

答案　B　[句意：大多数的美国人都觉得很难想象没有汽车的生活会是什么样的。考查宾语从句的语序。what引导宾语从句，从句用陈述句语序，主语是life。]

Ⅱ.阅读理解

High school dropouts earn an average of $9,000 less per year than graduates.Now a new study moves away a common belief why they quit.It's much more than failing in exams at school.

Society tends to think of high school dropouts as kids who just can't cut it.They are lazy，and perhaps not too bright.So researchers were surprised when they asked more than 450 kids who quit school about why they left.

"The vast majority actually had passing grades and they were confident that they could have graduated from high school."John Bridgeland，the executive researcher said.About 1 million teens leave school each year.Only about half of African­American and Hispanic(美籍西班牙的)students will receive a diploma，and actually all dropouts come to regret their decision.So，if failing grades don't explain why these kids quit，what does？Again，John Bridgeland said，"The most dependable finding was that they were bored.""They found classes uninteresting；they weren't inspired or motivated.They didn't see any direct connection between what they were learning in the classroom to their own lives，or to their possible careers."

The study found that most teens who do dropout wait until they turn sixteen，which happens to be the age at which most states allow students to quit.In the US，only one state，New Mexico，has a law requiring teenagers to stay in high school until they graduate.Only four states：California，Tennessee，Texas and Utah，plus the District of Columbia，require school attendance until age 18，no exceptions.Another researcher says raising the compulsory attendance age may be one way to keep more kids in school.

"As these dropouts look back，they realize they've made a mistake.And anything that sort of gives these people an extra push to stick it out，is probably a helpful measure."